Van Dyk Recycling Solutions installs its first MRF in Mexico

Van Dyk Recycling Solutions (VDRS), Stamford, Connecticut, says it has recently installed a sorting system in Mexico that is recovering 72 percent of the incoming municipal solid waste (MSW) it is processing. The MRF is sorting 500 tons of MSW per day, recovering organics and recyclables and creating engineered fuel, according to the supplier.

The system was installed for integrated waste management company Grupo CIP, Mexico City, which operates sanitary landfills in 12 Mexican states, generates energy from waste and provides waste collection and transfer services.

In a video about the installation produced by VDRS, Alberto Salcedo of Grupo CIP says the company selected VDRS for the project because its solutions provided the best technology at the lowest cost with the most efficiency.

VDRS Mexico and Latin America Sales Manger Ricardo Orozco says because this equipment is the first of its kind in Mexico, the staff at Grupo CIP was unfamiliar with much of the technology, so it placed a lot of confidence in VDRS. He adds that VDRS invested considerable time answering the company’s questions and explaining critical information.

In the video, Juan Carlos Lopez, Grupo CIP plant manager, says VDRS has supported the company since the beginning. “Van Dyk has guided us through everything,” he says.

“We are convinced that the future is in facilities that repurpose solid waste,” Salcedo says in the video.

Scrap metal shipments into China fell to 490,000 metric tons in January 2018 compared with a volume of 700,000 metric tons the previous month and 660,000 metric tons in January 2017, according to an online report from Reuters.

The January 2018 volume figure, which is down 30 percent from the previous month and 5.7 percent from one year ago, includes aluminum, copper and ferrous scrap. However, as China exported some 2.2 million metric tons of ferrous scrap in 2017, the predominant effect is likely on aluminum and copper scrap shipments.

The copper scrap January 2018 total of 200,000 metric tons was down 27.5 percent from one year ago, according to Reuters.

The drop in volumes is tied to Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) policies to prohibit and restrict many types of imported scrap materials. The actions include an outright ban on some two dozen types of scrap and impending purity levels on others that recyclers contend cannot be met.

According to Reuters, citing the GAC data, when nonmetallic scrap is included, China’s January 2018 import total for scrap materials fell by 50.3 percent compared to January 2017. Import quota licenses issued to scrap paper and plastic buyers have been severely limited.

The GAC statistics show January 2018 imports of scrap paper to China fell by 44.6 percent compared to one year earlier, while imports of plastic scrap dropped by 94.4 percent compared to the previous month.

Presona conveyor keeps OCC bales on the move

Sweden-based recycling equipment maker Presona states it “rose to the challenge” when containerboard producer DS Smith needed to replace the bale conveyor system at its Tampere, Finland, mill. Presona indicates it “delivered a system that uses fewer moving parts and it is easier to clean and service.”

In 2015, DS Smith Tampere staff concluded it was time to replace the mill’s bale conveyor system, preferably with something “innovative,” according to Presona. The system, which was connected to two Presona balers producing old corrugated container (OCC) bales, had been in place for more than 20 years. By 2015 the system, which featured a vertical lift, was old and subject to breaking down, prompting Tampere mill managers to begin seeking a replacement.

In 2016 Presona installed a completely new conveyor system in which all parts were built on the same height from the floor. Presona also describes the new system as being “optimized to give its operators better access for cleaning and maintenance.”

At the heart of the system is an automatic cart that runs on rails on the floor, picking up bales from the two balers.

“The new conveyor system is easier to use and takes up less space in the room, which makes everything more accessible,” says Tampere mill maintenance manager Seppo Soisenniemi. “We are very happy with it.”

At the same time it installed the new conveyor system, DS Smith decided to replace one of its two balers in Tampere, an old Presona machine from 1975, with a second Presona 40 OH2 model.

“We have had the first 40 OH 2 since 1998 and are very satisfied with it,” says Seppo Soisenniemi. “Now, if something happens with one baler we can easily switch to the other and they both use the same spare parts, which is convenient.”

Renewi to supply recycled plastics to Philips coffee machine

United Kingdom-based Renewi plc has announced it has started supplying recycled-content plastics it processes to Philips to make the appliance company’s Senseo Original line of coffee machines.

The recycled-content plastic is supplied via Coolrec, Renewi’s electronic scrap recycling subsidiary, which supplies recycled plastics from old or defective Philips appliances that comprise nearly 16 percent of the total plastic weight.

The recycled plastics are used for the black bottom plate of the Senseo Original, and Renewi describes the polymer as heat-resistant, with no odor and as not being visibly different to a component made from virgin materials.

Coolrec and Philips have worked together on other projects, including a vacuum cleaner that is made from 36 percent recycled plastic, according to Renewi.

Coolrec, headquartered in the Netherlands, has eight locations in four countries.

China enters ferrous scrap export era

China’s national news service, citing data from the state-affiliated China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), has reported the nation exported 2.2 million metric tons of ferrous scrap in 2017. The figure marks an exponential increase from the mere 1,000 metric tons exported in 2016.

According to the CISA data, the largest recipients of the exported ferrous scrap were ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The leap in exports occurred despite a 40 percent export tariff on ferrous scrap that was in place throughout 2017, according to the Xinhua news service online article.

The change in China’s ferrous scrap balance has been created both by its much larger generation of ferrous scrap compared to previous years and the government’s effort to shut down scrap-melting induction furnace operators.

According to Xinhua, the government’s effort to extinguish that sector resulted in the phase out of as much as 140 million tons per year of scrap-fed melt shop capacity. Anti-pollution efforts have been the reason for the shutdowns, according to the government. Some analysts, however, cite favoritism toward state-owned steelmaking firms as the reason the induction furnace sector was targeted.

Ferrous scrap traders in other parts of the world have been monitoring what some contended would be China’s inevitable switch to a ferrous scrap exporter, with some predicting a major influx of newly exported scrap hitting the global market by the end of the decade.

The Xinhua news agency report indicates the scrap exported in 2017 was shipped from several of China’s coastal provinces, including Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Hainan provinces.